Perth Glory announce PGFC Academy School partnership

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Perth Glory have announced a partnership with Lake Joondalup Baptist College (LJBC) which will see them become an official PGFC Academy School.

As a result, the prestigious northern suburbs college has become the third school to partner with the club, joining John Curtin College of the Arts and St. Andrew’s Grammar in offering a 12-month program which will provide a unique opportunity for highly-motivated young players to develop their football through additional training sessions, whilst also enabling them to continue with their education.

John Walmsley, LJBC Teacher and Football Coach, believes that the partnership with Glory will massively enhance the school’s already highly-regarded Football Academy.

“We are delighted that Lake Joondalup Baptist College has become a Perth Glory Academy School,” he said.

“This link will provide many benefits for students within our Football Academy and provide alignment to a professional football pathway.

“This partnership will allow us to maximise the potential of each player’s development on and off the pitch, as well as expanding opportunities for talent identification.

“Our Football Academy students will now have weekly strength and conditioning sessions with Perth Glory coaches and access to Perth Glory Nutritionists and Sports Psychologists through our Leadership Program.

“This will allow us to continue to further develop our students on and off the pitch into hopefully not only better footballers, but also better people.”

Former Glory midfielder Brad Hassell, who coaches at LJBC, echoed the sentiments of Walmsley.

“We are excited about the potential of this partnership with Perth Glory and how it will help us continue to evolve our program,” he said.

“We aim to provide a challenging, yet enjoyable learning environment at LJBC and will be able to offer greater opportunities for our male and female footballers through our collaboration with Perth Glory and participation in Perth Glory Football School events.”

A-League legend Terry McFlynn, who is currently Perth Glory’s Football Operations Manager, was similarly enthused by the partnership.

“LJBC has a fantastic reputation both in terms of its football program and academic results, making it very much a natural fit for the club as we expand our PGFC Academy Schools program into the northern suburbs,” he said.

“We are very excited at working closely with John, Brad and the rest of the staff to maximise the opportunities for the school’s students and replicate the great success that we have already enjoyed at both John Curtin College of the Arts and St. Andrew’s Grammar.

“The PGFC Academy shares LJBC’s strong commitment to producing both better footballers and better people and we look forward to developing this partnership in the coming years.”

Trial Registration for the LJBC Football Academy is now open for both male and female students in Years 4 – 12 for 2022. Those interested can register by clicking here.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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